Breaking out of a playing rut...

sick pickle

sick pickle

Inspired
Hey friends,

I have been playing since I was 15 (now 40 years old). I am a pretty decent player with good feel and tone (thanks FAS!) That being said, if you look at my playing across all this time, I am really only playing the same licks and phrases that I was playing 10/20 years ago–maybe with slightly better feel :p

I can quickly learn new songs for groups I play with, and learn passages by ear, but that is pretty much where it ends. I don't really know scales/modes. I have tried looking into tutorials for things like the CAGED system, but they have not clicked at all. I have not 'unlocked' the fretboard - nor could I really improvise something worth listening to on top of a random musical passage.

For 2023, I really want to 'break out' of my playing shell. With the sheer barrage of content available out there today, I really don't know where to start...Does anyone have any recommendations on a no nonsense plan to improve my playing and knowledge of the guitar? Is there any content creators out there laying out something worth following?

Thanks in advance!
 
I've been transcribing horn players, Getting the space between notes and breath phrases is harder than it seems. Also lots of Eric Johnson and Pat Metheny transcribing. Eric's chords are so challenging, Do what turns you on is very important!
 
sick pickle said:
Is there any content creators out there laying out something worth following?
Click to expand...
Hell yes!
Signals Music Studio

He gets right to the point, gives great examples, and you can find stuff to start off simple, all the way to very complex topics.
I'd highly, highly recommend his channel, and you'd really need not look anywhere else for the "knowledge" part.

As for the technique part, Ben Eller is a great one.
 
If you want to unlock the fretboard, learn the 5 pentatonic boxes. You surely know the minor pentatonic (box 1). The other boxes are the same 5 notes but different spots on the neck. Knowing that provides a solid foundation for learning diatonics. Diatonics just adds 1 note per string per box.
 
If you can quickly learn songs and don't click with the typical rudimentary theory practice. Break down the songs you know. What is the key sig? What is the chord structure? What scale(s) work in that structure?
Breaking a song down and getting to understand the theory from that perspective can be much more enjoyable.
 
Without knowing precisely what you want to accomplish---what your goals are musically---it is really
challenging to make anything remotely resembling "progress." Kind of like with exercise,---do you
want to have better endurance, lose fat, gain muscle, be more flexible? Each path is different with
a different protocol and process. Choosing one won't get you to another.

This why there are a thousand and one answers to your question. Only being more specific and
really deeply weighing what YOU want out of music can give you a bit of light and direction in
the darkness of not knowing. :)
 
Just learning a few passages from a good player's recording can do more than you'd think for your playing. I was learning Pat Metheny and Eric Johnson passages when I was in my mid-to-late teens and although I could never play 'Bright Size Life' or 'Manhattan' note for note, you take away a lot from just studying a piece of music. I think most great players started out emulating, so I would just try to do as much of that as possible.
 
vin156 said:
If you want to unlock the fretboard, learn the 5 pentatonic boxes. You surely know the minor pentatonic (box 1). The other boxes are the same 5 notes but different spots on the neck. Knowing that provides a solid foundation for learning diatonics. Diatonics just adds 1 note per string per box.
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After you posting this ages ago, I finally got into this - wow, so simple but just opened up a whole new world for me (who usually only solo'd using Box 1 :/ )

Where should I go from here? I think this makes me understand the CAGED system alot more. But now that I have the 5 pentatonic boxes in memory - what next?

@vin156
 
Find some new people to jam with who have a different musical background?
Put on Bitches Brew and improvise for an hour?
Retune your guitar into a weird tuning and focus on making things sound good instead of which box your in?
 
If you're interested in learning scales/modes and unlocking the fretboard in that way, you should research Building Better Guitar Scale method and FretScience videos on YouTube. They are based on the 3-note per string method, but I found both have made it easier for me to unlock the fretboard quickly with some simple concepts.
 
The best thing that -consistently- gets me out of musical ruts is taking a guitar lesson. Book a one-off with a reputable teacher that is playing or doing something that you would like to learn how to do. Could be anything. If they're any good, they can easily give you an objective look at your playing and then offer constructive ways to improve whatever defecits you're working on or blind spots that you're not aware of.
 
sick pickle said:
After you posting this ages ago, I finally got into this - wow, so simple but just opened up a whole new world for me (who usually only solo'd using Box 1 :/ )

Where should I go from here? I think this makes me understand the CAGED system alot more. But now that I have the 5 pentatonic boxes in memory - what next?

@vin156
Click to expand...
Diatonics. You already know 5 of the 7 notes and the basic shapes of the 5 boxes. FYI The 5 diatonic "boxes" are called modes.

Glad to hear it helped you!
 
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